ArtRageous! Music and Art Gone Wild!

The Townsend Center at UWG is holding the show ArtRageous on Mar. 25 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. This is the first time this show has been held on West Georgia’s campus. This show is unlike any other, and brings a new way for people to see Music and Art together. ArtRageous is based out of Tijeras, Mexico from a small artistic community. Each artist creates a masterpiece before your very eyes, while incorporating musical numbers and never before seen choreography.

The ArtRageous crew travels all over the world to perform this show, and is one of the most popular shows to this day. The show has been going on for 20 years, and has included some of the same performers since day one. The crew of this show practices at their troupe campus located in New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. This location is equipped with a recording studio, garden, offices and rehearsal spaces.

“Most people say that it is the combination of art and music that makes the show different,” said Lauri Francis, ArtRageous Costume Designer. “In that our goal is to involve the audience in their show, we would also add what makes us very different is the focus on audience interaction”. Francis has been a part of the show since 1993, and even takes her son Jaden on the ArtRageous tour with her. Besides designing the immaculate costumes for the show, Francis also a painter, dancer, singer and bus cook. Along with Francis, many of the cast members carry various amounts of talent for the show.

During the ArtRageous performances, many neon colors are used to make the art stand out even more. The artist uses splashes of paint to make the picture they are wanting to create. Most of the paintings created during the show are famous well-known celebrities. ArtRageous has created paintings of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Dr. Martin Luther King and Stevie Wonder. Many of the paintings are also done at the same time on stage, with different artists. This show does this to help make the audience feel as though they are part of the show. “We help create an atmosphere during the show where the audience wants to participate – both in their seats and on stage with us.” Said Francis. The audience has even been given neon lights before to hold up during the performances

“We had done Action Painting and we were a show band but the idea behind ArtRageous was to put everything together in one show.” Said Francis. ArtRageous Includes dance, music and art all into one show, because it’s different and hasn’t been done before. It’s a new form of art that they are hoping that people see and decide to chase their dreams to be an artist.